In the months after October 7, a group of eight Jewish artists from Philadelphia with family and friends in Israel decided to use their art to express their fears and pain, hope and grieving. The result is a series of 200 paintings of men, women and children captured by Hamas on that day. Called “Their Portraits,” the exhibition is currently on display at the Museum of Biblical Art in Dallas.   

The exhibition includes information about the current status of each hostage, and visitors can participate in writing prayers or poems to the hostage families, which will be forwarded by the museum. Among the artists are several Hadassah members, including Sivia Braunstein, Judy Rothbart and Nancy Gordon.

“As I painted, I put each portrait on my wall, so that they could watch me paint their friends, family and fellow Israelis,” Gordon, who had served as president of the local Hadassah chapter when she lived in Dallas, said. “They became a part of my family.”